Italian GP race report

MISANO
By G. Venkat Ganeshan
The Ducati dominance continued in this Italian
circuit, just a few miles off the Ducati factory.
After the Lausitzring round, which saw both
championship adversaries Troy Bayliss and Colin
Edwards trading wins, the...

MISANO
By G. Venkat Ganeshan

The Ducati dominance continued in this Italian
circuit, just a few miles off the Ducati factory.
After the Lausitzring round, which saw both
championship adversaries Troy Bayliss and Colin
Edwards trading wins, the Misano circuit had thrown up
quite a few challenges.

When it comes to qualifying, Ben Bostrom always throws
up the gauntlet to his Ducati teammate, Bayliss.
Misano was not different, as Bostrom took the fourth
spot, but buoyed by his performance in Lausitzring,
Neil Hodgson registered the fastest time in superpole.
Aprilia's Troy Corser, who was once a serious threat
to the championship had to lift his spirits, and a
podium position was certainly due from the wily
Australian. World champion Colin Edwards had to blame
himself for a poor start at the second race in
Lausitzring, which hampered him from attacking Bayliss
and had to settle for third place started from third.
History was made at Misano with the entry of Italian
marque Benelli. Though announcements were rife at the
beginning of this year's championship about the
legendary Italian manufacturer about their entry into
Superbikes, but the time of their arrival was kept
under close covers.

Misano proved to be the opportune for the Italian
manufacturer. Another Italian manufacturer to have
graced the Superbike championship and the Benelli
squad was pilotted by ex-Suzuki Superbike rider, Peter
Goddard. Another distinguishing factor was the
introduction of the three cylinder machines by
Benelli. Hence, SBK poses real challenges to the
riders and machines alike with the two, three and four
cylinder machines. The 900c.c. machine was down on
power, but with more tests in the offing, soon it will
join the big league.

In race one, Edwards took the holeshot, but it was the
American Ben Bostrom who passed Edwards and began to
pull away from the rest of the pack. Bayliss, who had
a second row start was caught behind Neil Hodgson, but
a wrong tire choice from the latter put paid to his
hopes. Even Troy Corser had a disastrous race, as the
Australian never finished below third in Misano. Again
a bad tire choice had Corser scrambling for minor
placings. Pierfrancesco Chili had a cataclysmic race.
But Bayliss' surge continued, as he moved up the
ladder and caught up with his teammate Bostrom.

Bayliss was particularly quick in the straight leading
up to Tremonto corner, as he manoeuvred most of his
moves at that corner. Both riders traded the lead as
they were on a hot chase to take the checkered flag.
Bayliss finally passed Bostrom and took the win ahead
of Bostrom. To Bayliss' surpirse, Kawasaki rider,
Gregorio Lavilla had a fabulous outing as he brought
home the Green machine to third.

Race two was marred by a coming together of the
privateers Matteo Camapana and Ludovic Holon in the
second lap, which forced the race to be stopped. Holon
suffered a broken collar bone. At the restart, Edwards
again took the holeshot, soon Bostrom nipped past
Edwards and his hot laps continued. But this time,
Neil Hodgson made the right choice in terms of tire
and was closing in on Bostrom. Both the riders were on
identical tires and near identical machines, soon
Hodgson got the move over Bostrom but couldn't pull
away from the Californian. But their pace was too hot
for the rest of the riders, lead by race one winner
Bayliss. Edwards had another disastrous outing as he
fell off from the bike in one of the tight and twisty
corners at Misano. Soon he managed to restart his
Honda and finished a lonely eleventh.

Hodgson's luckless run continued, as in the fag end of
the race, his rear tire was blistered and had to
reduce his speed considerably giving up several
places. The early hot laps had put tremendous pressure
on the tires. This gifted Bostrom not only the lead
but also the race win followed at a distance by
Bayliss. Lavilla for the second time in succession
finished on the podium. The circus next moves to
Laguna Seca in sunny California in two weeks time.